Neiman, an old but great lead stallion we have known and followed for more than a decade, was not doing good at all, yes the same horse we helped on December 5th 2020, from the snare-trap!

We have been giving him special feedings for months, but that did not seem to help and he continued to decline. On Friday January 22nd, state veterinarians with AZDA came to assess him and we all decided together that something needed to be done. While it is completely normal for an old horse to die of natural causes, it is not humane to just watch him in pain slowly starving to death.

However, it takes a lot to plan and put a field operation together; besides for the funds, special permissions are needed, plus it takes a special sedation kit to get a wild horse to go down completely, so that he can receive medical attention. In the mean time, we were keeping a close eye on Neiman and our volunteers fed him twice a day, so that he would hang in there, no matter how far away into the forest he went. Finally yesterday was the day when it all came together.

We apologize that we do not always disclose in real time which horses we are monitoring, because it then quickly becomes a tourist attraction and everyone will have something to say about it, and that does not help the horse(s) in question.

We guessed from the swelling in his face that his teeth were the problem, but there was really no way to know until an examination up close. At that point is when a decision can be made if he needs a humane ending, or if he needs to be rescued or if he can be helped in the field and remain wild and free.

Dr Howard and Allison R. and Emily C from AZ Equine and Makenzie with AZDA, walked a half a mile in with us, with generators, an x-ray machine, teeth instruments etc, because Neiman of course decided not to be in an easy location. It was quite the expedition and it is ground breaking to help a wild horse so humanely out of his pain in this way.

Please stay tuned for the amazing outcome, we are putting together a video! If Facebook is not showing you our updates in your newsfeed please click on our page and then click “see first.” The video is coming soon!!

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